Sonny Bill Williams

[Mojoman]

It's a pity that SBW didn't switch to Rugby in NZ earlier. If he had've played last year and perhaps some S14, he would be in a much better position. At this stage he's really got no room for error or injury. If he misses the EOYT due to injury/form then thats it for him trying to make the RWC team.

Couple of things I've observed,

1. He's huge now (not that he was small when he was playing league). 109-110kg now as opposed to 101-103 in League. Haven't really seen how his speed has been affected but he still looks agile.
2. His long passing game is v.good. Short passing/Offloads are definitely his strong suit.

He hasn't really been tested in defence but he is playing @ 12 so doesn't have the struggles that Centres deal with.

If he stays injury free he's a shoo-in for the EOYT. Will he make the RWC squad? Jury is still out. AB's still have Nonu, Conrad Smith, Luke McAlister, Isaia Toeava, Richard Kahui, Robbie Fruean and SBW to pick from.

 

[I like to watch]

If he stays injury free he's a shoo-in for the EOYT. Will he make the RWC squad? Jury is still out. AB's still have Nonu, Conrad Smith, Luke McAlister, Isaia Toeava, Richard Kahui, Robbie Fruean and SBW to pick from.

Staying injury free is the biggest issue. my recollection is that he played around 1/2 games for the Bulldogs, had plenty of time off in France as well.
Shows how much depth they have though, there will be some good players missing out on the AB squad next year

 

[Viking]

Dont think he will make the RWC. Unless there is injury, and if so he will come off the bench. After RWC he will be a big!

 

[Gnostic]

Will he hang around if he doesn't make the RWC. I doubt it. He will either go back to league or head OS for Euro again.

 

[I like to watch]

The $$ are in Rugby, off to Europe after he ticks the RWC off his bucket list maybe??

 

[Viking]

Im not so sure about that, If he gets game time, which he might not as he's still developing, then I think he will stay. Unless he keeps getting hammered which is likely also. But I think you under-estimate his loyalty.

 

[Gnostic]

Im not so sure about that, If he gets game time, which he might not as he's still developing, then I think he will stay. Unless he keeps getting hammered which is likely also. But I think you under-estimate his loyalty.

With his history? Is that possible? :lmao:

 

[Blue]

Im not so sure about that, If he gets game time, which he might not as he's still developing, then I think he will stay. Unless he keeps getting hammered which is likely also. But I think you under-estimate his loyalty.

He doesn't decide his own moves. That much is obvious.

He will be off again after next year unless he is a frontline All Black and his face can be sold to every possible sponsor.

 

[I like to watch]

He doesn't decide his own moves. That much is obvious.

He will be off again after next year unless he is a frontline All Black and his face can be sold to every possible sponsor.

Yeah it certainly appears that he is not the master of his own destiny.
I think he has the same manager as Anthony Mundine, who is an adverserial type that doesn't believe in sponsorships.
So if money is the driver he will go to Europe or Japan.

 

[Viking]

Didnt he reject multi-million dollar offers in France for a "chance" to play for the allblacks? Thats got to count for something.

 

[Groucho]

another idea, and don't shoot me down too quickly would be to train him in the basics of backrow play. This is not becasue I think he should play there as I think he is a custom built modern 12, but given his powerful running and noted hitting ability (albeit with no arms) it would give the all blacks a real wild card to have on their bench a player who could cover (12, 13) and also (6,8) depending on how the game panned out. He could be so damaging in the back half games and is probably bigger than everyone in the wallabies backrow. Food for thought at this stage really.

Well, if he's 110kg now then he's a few kg heavier than Pocock, a few kg less than Elsom, and 10 less than Palu.

But hey, the mantle of greatness more than makes up for that!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

It's not such a silly idea. When SBW first came across to union, I thought Toulon might try to play him in the back row. I don't necessarily think he'd make a good openside, as that's a very specialised position, but I do think he has the bulk, power and offload game to be a fairly handy 6 or 8. He played in the second row in league, didn't he? I'd have thought the ball running skillset in the two games would be similar? He would also be pretty handy with defence around the fringes.

 

[dobduff11]

Its not a bad idea however if you pay that much for a player you don't necessarily want him to playing at 6, no offence to blindsides but you don't get any where near as much ball as you do at 12 or 13.

I dont think it was ever an option playing him at six due to his large wages and his skill set is also suited to centre.

We had a similar-ish situation in england when andy farrell crossed codes. He played a few games at 6 and most of his games at 12. He didn't have the pace for 12 but he was alright there, but at 6 he was bad , this is due to having never been involved in rucks and not having a prior backgroung in union.

 

[I like to watch]

I am not saying SBW couldn't transition to the piggies, but 2nd row in mungo these days is closest to playing 12 in Gods game.

 

[I like to watch]

Its not a bad idea however if you pay that much for a player you don't necessarily want him to playing at 6, no offence to blindsides but you don't get any where near as much ball as you do at 12 or 13.

Have you seen the waratahs play? 12 & 13 are purely defensive roles.
They don't even touch the footie in the warmup.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

While watching the Canterbury Sheep Shaggers play the Wellington Lions in the ITM on the weekend, the announcers said that the jumpers the Sheep Shaggers were playing in were on Trade Me (the NZ Ebay -www.trademe.co.nz) for auction. Funds were to go to the Earthquake recovery.

SBW was playing in #22. On Sat pm when I briefly looked at the site, #22 was up for >$2000 NZ. The other "Stars" were goiong for about $600, and the battlers were around $200.

No matter how good or bad SBW is, he gets people talking, and fans in through the turnstiles, spending money on Rugby.

An extra 10000 punters to a game is easy revenue for the Administrators if they have a SBW equivalent. If you are serious about developing the game, and making inroads into mungoland, then you have to get them into the venues to watch. Not all of them may stay after their experience with God's Game, but enough of them do.

The AFL use of K Hunt and I Falou in marketing Forceback to the mungos follows this model, and to an extent the ARU steal of Lote T, Matt R, and Wendell S did the same.

When Jonah Lomu was past his prime, he still dragged a swag of punters through the gates just to see him.

Getting back to my point: SBW gets punters separated from their money and gets Media column inches that the administrators do not have the money to purchase. Regardless of his skill level, defensive and general tactical flaws, the NZRU pony tail wearing marketing department will be keen to put SBW in the Darkness as soon as possible. Their financial bottom line needs it.

 

[I like to watch]

SBW certainly has that X factor, in his debut in park rugby @ christchurch.Over 3,000 people turned up. Apparently a normal crowd is a few hundred. Reports were that when SBW left the field after 50 minutes 90% of the crowd left.
As big bum says, there will be pressure to give him a run with the AB's maybe before his form warrants it.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I felt that we put the league boys in the Wallaby jumper based on the same principles: marketing over football. It seemed to me that we bent over backwards to get them into the team and not always on form. I wonder if the AB's will do the same...

 

[Groucho]

Have you seen the waratahs play? 12 & 13 are purely defensive roles.
They don't even touch the footie in the warmup.

Yes, all those line breaks by Horne last year were actually a sophisticated form of defence.

 

[Groucho]

SBW certainly has that X factor, in his debut in park rugby @ christchurch.Over 3,000 people turned up. Apparently a normal crowd is a few hundred. Reports were that when SBW left the field after 50 minutes 90% of the crowd left.
As big bum says, there will be pressure to give him a run with the AB's maybe before his form warrants it.

Well, he certainly has the ex- factor. Money Bill Williams has never seen a contract he couldn't walk away from. :fishing